King Arthur as one of the Nine Worthies, detail from the Christian Heroes Tapestry dated c. 1385.

The Legend of King Arthur and about King Edgar of Angeles

The text is from “Certeine Testimonies concerning K. Arthur and his conquests of the North regions, taken out of the historie of the kings of Britaine”. Written by Galfridus Monmentensis, and printed at Heidelberge anno 1587.

The following texts are quotes and a short summary into modern language with Latin names put in parenthesis, and some comments of mine.
The Legend of King Arthur of Britains (517 AD) tells that the same people lived in Scantia that is now called Norway, and on the Islands beyond Norway (Norweia) and appertaining into Norway, Sweden (Suechordam), Gotland (Gutlandiam), Denmarke (Daciam) …. Lapland (Lappam), and other lands of the East Sea (Orientalis Oceani = Østersjøen, Östersjön, the Baltic Sea) even into Russian Lapland (Lappa) and Russia (Russiam). There are additional areas mentioned in the text. He placed Russian Lapland and the Baltic Sea shores of Russia as the eastern Bounds of his British Empire (Britannia).

This text surprisingly tells that the Christian king Arthur baptized people all over Norway to believe in one God. If so, that is long before Saint Olaf of Norway (995 - 1030) christened Norway.

“At that time all the noble men of Norway tooke wiues of the noble nation of the Britaines,

whereupon the Norses say, that they are descended of the race and blood of this kingdome…

…For this cause the Norses say, that they ought to dwell with vs in this kingdome, to wit,

that they belong to the crowne of Britaine:

for they had rather dwell here then in their owne natiue countrey,

which is drie and full of mountaines, and barren,

and no graine growing there, but in certeine places”

(End of Quote).

Richard Hakluyt: Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
The legend of King Arthur described the people of Norweia as wild and savage, did not love God or their neighbours, because all evil come from the North, yet there were among them certain Christians. Like with the Norse Sagas, Octher’s Travel (Ohthere’s Voyages) and other stories from this period of time, the reliability of King Arthur Legends is controversial in regard to what is fact and fiction and if king Arthur himself was a fact or a myth. As known, chosen parts and certain interpretations of the Norse Sagas have been central in the history building and historical discourse of the Nordic countries. When the ideas about Good, God and Evil are ignored the Legends of King Arthur are at least as historical interesting as other texts from this era. Nennius about 800 AD with “Historia Brittonum” was the first author of this legend. In spite of the controversies, the geographical descriptions are most likely based on observed facts. This legend indirectly provides an ethnic description of the Saami and the rest of the people in the Nordic. It also sounds reasonable that most of the land in Norway actually was deserted and grains only grew in certain places.

This is an ancient map of the Scandinavian areas made by Olaus Magnus about 1520. In this map you can see that Norvegia is at the southern tip of present Norway, south of Tilemarchia. It is also interesting to see that Biarmia was the Russian Saami Areas at the Kola Peninsula. Dette er et eldgammelt kart av Skandinavia som ble laget av Olaus Magnus ca. 1520. På dette kartet kan du se at området som ble kalt Norvegia var på sørspissen av dagens Norge, sør for Tilemarchia. Det er også interessant at Biarmia var i dagens Russisk Samiske områder på Kola halvøya.

Some thoughts about the content and possible implications of King Arthur legend: The Latin geographical names “Lappam” and for Russian Lapland “Lappa” were used very early in history. It further tells that the noble men of Norweia took wives of the noble nation of the Britaines, whereupon the Norse says, that they are descended of the race and blood of this kingdom. It is not specified who these noble men were or who the wives they got from Britain were. It could have been women with haplogroup U7, it is of Central Asian origin. In the Oseberg Viking mound grave the mtDNA U7 was found in the younger of the two Norse noble women, both women were 152 cm tall (i.e. 59.8 inches) (Source: Per Holck, 2008). MtDNA U7 still is observed infrequently on the British Isles and particularly in Scotland. You can read more about this in an earlier blogpost.

According to a later text by King Edgar of Angles (959–975 AD) his empire was extended to include Norway (Noruegiam) like with his forefathers. This means that the Kingdom of Britain once included Noruegiam. It was not the exact same areas as present Norway.

If the texts of these old legends and poems reflect real observations, the people within all these geographical areas were ethnically similar, from the British Isles and Ireland, bordering the East Sea towards Russia and in the north including Russian Lapland (called Lappa).

Page from the Book of Aneurin , MS c. 1275. From the 1908 facsimile edition by J, Gwenogvryn Evans

Legenden til kong Arthur og om kong Edgar av Anglia

Teksten er engelsk: “Certeine Testimonies concerning K. Arthur and his conquests of the North regions, taken out of the historie of the kings of Britaine”. Skrevet av Galfridus Monmentensis, og trykket i Heidelberge anno 1587.

Ung samisk mann på påskefestivalen i Kautokeino. Young Sami man at the Easter Festival in Kautokeino, Norway: Flickr Photo by Sapmelash, Sergey Gavrilov. Legg merke til leggpynten. Pay attention to the decoration on his legs and compare the symbols of those of Hermes.

The God Hermes - D'Ermes - d'hermès - Guden Hermes

Den første avbildningen av den arkaiske greske guden Hermes fra 6- århundret BCE. Legg merke til lua, sikksakk mønstret på drakten og pynten på leggene (de symboliserer vinger). Hermes kan være relatert til den eldgamle samiske guden Tiermes [Diermes]. This is the first depiction of the archaic Greek God Hermes from the 6th Century BCE. Pay attention to the resemblance of the clothing of this God with the Sami: The hat, the zigzag patterns on the tunic and the decor on his legs which is symbolizing wings. Hermes might be related to Tiermes [Diermes], an ancient Sami God.

Buen Addja

Klemet was a reindeer herder in Kautokeino. He was Sami and came from Badjenjarga/ Bahkkiljoknjarga in Karasjok, Norway. In this photo he was in a harbor, likely in Hammerfest in the 1920’s. His nickname was "Buen Addja". Photos of him were published on several photo-cards, some with his full name. Klemet var reingjeter hos en framile fra Kautokeino. Han var samisk og kom fra Badjenjarga/ Bahkkiljoknjarga i Karasjok. I dette foto var han i et havneområde, sannsynligvis i Hammerfest i 1920-årene. Foto av ham ble publisert på flere fotokort, noen med hans fulle navn.

Sami film with English subtitles: “Ofelas” (eng. Pathfinder) or in Norwegian “Veiviseren” a film from 1987 written and directed by Nils Gaup from Norway. This is 41 minutes of the movie, not the full film.

Sami language on Runic inscription from Iceland (see information about book in the heading). The Runes are found on a wooden shovel and the runic inscription is about 15 cm and is likely from the early medieval period. These two pictures are from the referred book by Olsen and Bergsland, 1943.

To personer i samiske klær utenfor den gamle kirken fra 1753 i Jokkmokk (Sverige). Klokketårnet er til høyre- Two persons in Sami dresses outside the old Church in Jokkmokk (Norrbotten, Sweden) from 1753. The bell tower is on the right side. Public domain photo. Source: Wikimedia.

Photo by Norske Samers Riksforbund, 2004: Ole Henrik Magga (NSR). Sametingets første president og den første lederen av FN Permanente Forum for urfolkssaker. The first president of the Sámi parliament in Norway and the first chairman of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Bonaparte photographed the Sami people in central Sapmi areas of all present 4 national states. You can see more of these portraits in different Saamiblog postings. Bonaparte fotograferte Samer i dagens sentrale Samiske områder og i alle 4 nasjonalstater. Du kan se flere av disse antropologiske portrettene i ulike innlegg av Saamiblog.

Nicolas Nilsen (unknown place) and Kristin Mikkelsdatter Hetta from Kvalsund. Her Sami name was Banne Ristin.

Matti Aikio wrote in a period of time when racism was mainstream thinking and the oppression and the contempt for the Sami was intense. In some of his works he expressed racism in relation to his own people as well as to other minority groups and he clearly identified with the oppressors. His views are somewhat changed in later works.

The first drum depicted and exhibited at Museum Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin, in Germany is a replica of a real Sami shaman drum or runebomme. The original drum of this replica is a Sami drum from Sweden, likely from Torne Lapmark. This drum was first illustrated in the book "History of Lappland" or "Lapponica" by Johan Scheffer (Latin: Schefferus), 1673. It has later been described by Manker in 1938. To me it seems like some of the symbols on this drum contains religious or Sacred formulas of what is called runes or runic symbols.

The second drum (digitally manipulated) is exhibited in Meiningen, Germany. It is photographed and described in an article by Franz Weinitz in 1910: "Abhandlungen und Vorträge. Die lappische Zaubertrommel in Meiningen". He interpret the symbols on this and another Sami drum in this article and mentions the 13 other Sami drums exhibited at museums in Germany.

Sami semi-nomad group in 1920's - 1930's in the areas of northern Sweden or Norway. Being Semi nomads mean that the reindeer herding Sami have a home where they live during the winter and that they every year move with the reindeer herd along the same path towards the coast before the summer. En samisk halvnomadisk gruppe i 1920-30-årene i de nordsvenske og nordnorske områdene. At samene er halvnomader betyr at de samer som har reinsdyr har et hjem hvor de bor om vinteren og at de hvert år flytter reinen langs den samme ruta til kysten før sommeren.
Source of information. Informasjonskilde: Samiskt kulturarv i samlingar. Rapport från ett projekt om återföringsfrågor gällande samiske föremål. Arkeologisk rapport, 2005, 1, Gunilla Edbom. Ájtte, Svensk Fjäll - och Samemuseum.

Eastern Sami - Østsamene

Russian Sami caught a whale in the White Sea, June 1760. Folk life in Russian Lapland at the Kola Peninsula. Published in Lubok, late 1700's. Unknown artist. Pay attention to the boat type which is different from the ones used by the Sea Sami at the Norwegian coast. I do not know what type of boat this picture shows, but possible a "shnjaka". Russiske samer fanget en hval i Kvitsjøen i Juni 1760. Folkeliv i Russisk Lapland på Kolahalvøya. Publisert i Lubok, sent på 1700-tallet. Ukjent kunstner. Legg merke til båttypen som er ulik dem brukt av sjøsamene på norskekysten. Jeg er ikke sikker på hvilken båttype som er avbildet, muligens "shnjaka".

In the following URL you can see ancient Petroglyphs or Rock art from the Kola Peninsula (present Russia). The date of these fields varies, some of the symbols seems to match religious symbols of Iron Age southern Nordic areas, e.g. the wheel and the trinity symbol.
You can see the carvings in stone such as from the mountain Skala Odinokaya in Kanozero Odin.

A struggle between kings in the Sami areas: The king of Denmark claimed sovereignty over Norway, large parts of the Kola Peninsula and northern Russia in the 1500’s. Christian the 4th perceived Sweden as the evil neighbour that continually advanced towards the northern Norwegian territories. The Danish king covered his identity and travelled in 1599 incognito under the name Christian Fredriksen on a three months sea travel with the Danish-Norwegian Navy from Copenhagen to Finnmark in Norway and the Kola Peninsula in present Russia. Source: Rune Berg Hagen (1999).